
Manager Jayce Tingler worried about the Padres’ offense clicking as they limped into the All-Star break.
The team appeared ready to ease his fears Friday as the Friars exploded for 24 runs against the Washington Nationals, led by Wil Myers and Jake Cronenworth, who became the third Padre to hit for the cycle.
They built their 24-8 win on the strength of a seven-run 2nd inning and a six-run 6th.
Myers homered twice and had seven RBIs – including a grand slam in the 2nd when the Padres went up 10-3 – while Cronenworth drove in four.
The infielder, on the heels of his first All-Star Game, doubled in the 2nd inning, tripled in the 3rd, homered in the 5th and singled in the 6th.
Cronenworth follows Myers, who hit for the cycle in 2017, and former Padre Matt Kemp, who achieved the feat in 2015.
“I guess I kind of surprised myself. It’s a pretty incredible thing to do,” Cronenworth said.
National Trea Turner was the last ballplayer to hit for the cycle, on June 30.
What’s more, the Padres could have had two cycles in one game Friday – Tommy Pham was a triple away from making it happen. However, he did get to steal home in the 1st inning.
Yes, it was that kind of night for the Padres.
“That was as relentless up and down the lineup as I’ve seen our crew,” Tingler said.
The game with the Nationals is the first in a 10-game road trip for the Padres. Blake Snell takes the mound for them at 4:05 p.m. and Joe Musgrove at 10:05 a.m. Sunday. Then they travel to Atlanta and Miami.
The Padres trail the San Francisco Giants by six games in the National League West, and the second-place Dodgers by four.